Why do school systems support sports? Because we are entertained? No, it is much more than that. Young people need to know how to  learn the value of personal sacrifice for the betterment of the whole, the value of giving your all for others, the value of team work, of taking instruction, and receiving rebuke, the joy of victory, and how to endure the pain of defeat. All of these are social skills that sports teach, so we have teams. Some of them have done well.  

How’d you like to have 75 kids in one month? That’s how many we’ve received from the Cambodian government referral service since June 1st. Plus, the government decided to re-certify the six homes in Ratanakirri Province, that were on suspension because the Home Parents couldn’t read Cambodian. These are tribal homes where the vast majority of the general populace cannot read or write. Anyway, we never stopped servicing them, but it’s nice to get the recognition back. We’re supposed to be shrinking. Orphan numbers in Cambodia are declining. But, because of the strict oversight and the closing of many questionable …  

God often mentions the “Stranger” as someone who needs special attention. Strangers are people from outside our community that we may not understand nor know little about. The Union Church, Hong Kong decided to do something about that. Their children’s ministry collected hundreds of books, and hand carried them to our church home in Tek Hoat, Cambodia, where they set up a library. Not only that, they left extra books behind for other church homes. No longer strangers, they left as friends.  

How do you build up a beat up generation? Orphans are often ridiculed in Cambodia, mocked as, “Stray Dogs!”  which is a term that would give just about anyone an inferiority complex. But as a child? The results are devastating, unless they get into one of our FCOP homes. Our orphans are sent to public school, where the other children will try to pick on them, but with 20-30  brothers and sisters it cuts down on the harassment. How do we hedge this bet?  Bring in a team of foreigners on a mission trip. Most of our homes have never …  

Can your luck get any worse? Sometimes it takes and angel to pull you out! Imagine this: You’re a 14 year old girl, sold to a Muslim owned brothel, beaten regularly, and so disoriented you have no idea where home is. You are locked up most of the time, but commanded to clean up the kitchen, when the door is opened for you to carry out garbage. The girl spotted a pick-up truck taxi, put the garbage down, and ran for the truck. She was gone before she was missed. She rode for hours, not having any money to pay …  

Every so often, in every life, you receive those shockingly painful blows of reality. They come as telegrams, emails, phone calls, a knock on the door in the middle of the night or a soft touch on the shoulder, but they always send a cold shudder up your spine – someone close has died. We didn’t talk much, but I felt an instant bond. Maybe it wasn’t so much spiritual as it was a sense of brotherhood; we were both farmers. I didn’t realize it at the time, but Craig Grunert raised 7,000 acres of canola near Yorkton, SK, Canada. He attended church as a child, but had …  

The International Community School of Singapore and the Community of Praise Baptist Church of Singapore have figured this out, very precisely as well. They not only came and re-built the Snule Church/Home, but several of their members have given toward helping with our rice crop expenses.  Hey! Singapore is blessed as well. “Ahhh, come on! Is that the real reason?” Well, it sure didn’t hurt!  

If there is an organization that knows how to be precisely blessed, it is “Reach Now International”. Bill Meyer, with some help from several donor charities like Mission of Mercy and Feed My Starving Children, along with Lou Binninger of Glad Tidings Church, has poured blessings into the Cambodian orphans, widows, and poor. I think I’d like to just stand next to him for a while and see what rubs off.  Bless all of you! Thank you!